


put your money on me (I know it's not easy)

by AndreaLyn



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-10 08:49:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15945908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndreaLyn/pseuds/AndreaLyn
Summary: When Carmen Vasquez decides to head back to school to prevent the bar from closing down, Faraday is in a tight spot. He might lose his favorite bar and one of his best friends. Lucky for him, when a door closes, a window opens and in through it comes someone from his past that he never paid much attention to, but plans to get to know better now.





	1. Chapter 1

When Faraday heads to the bar on Friday night, the place is full with people and the mood feels like they’re celebrating a birthday or someone’s promotion. Hell, maybe someone had the shit luck to die and this is the wake. He hears the crashing of a bottle as he enters, which is normal once it hits around two in the morning, but it’s barely nine. This isn’t the kind of chaos that happens this early in the night, even on a Friday.

“What in the hell did I wander into?” Faraday wonders, watching as several of the local boys lean over the bar to kiss Carmen on the cheek, and while she’s his favorite bartender too (not to mention one of the owners), she doesn’t usually let her patrons offer her so many affections. Settling in his regular seat, he gives Carmen a dubious look. “Carmen Vasquez, what in the hell is going on?”

Carmen doesn’t answer, because she likes to make Faraday suffer (what with that amused look on her face), and instead, gives him some silence accompanied by glass drying. 

“I’m calling it, some lucky man finally got you to say yes to marrying him and you’re running away from all of us,” Faraday says, smacking his hand on the bar top like he’s solved one of the world’s greatest mysteries. He’s also hoping that stands for his ordering a drink, but lucky for him, Carmen had finished pouring it the second that he’d walked in and she turns to get it for him, now.

“You’re half right.”

“You’re getting hitched.”

“I’m running away,” Carmen says, eyes sparkling with mischief. “I’m going back to school, _papi_ , which means that I’m giving up the bar life so I can go write papers and books and become the engineering genius I was meant to be instead of wasting my talents fixing shit here.” She sets his usual right in front of him, leaning her hip against the bar.

Before Faraday even takes a sip, a few more of the regulars say goodbye to her on their way out, but he’s currently working a problem in his mind.

“What are you talking about? Your family owns this place,” he protests. “You can go to school and still come in and work, right? What about your parents?” Faraday has some very fond memories of trying to sneak in and get a drink when he’d been barely thirteen years old, Mrs. Vasquez smacking his wrists. It's a shame they had to go and retire, because one of his favorite hobbies had been trying to figure out a way to get a drink without them realizing. 

Carmen had taken over when she’d been nineteen and not even legal to serve herself, but her parents had been eager to retire. Carmen’s other two sisters had no desire to run the place and her little brother was even younger than Faraday. 

Now, she’s leaving him?

“The bar needs someone who can help pay the bills,” she says firmly. “If I get my degree in electrical engineering like the plan was, I can come back and run the bar again as a second job. Rose Creek may have its fair share of alcoholics, but not enough to keep me in business without some help.” 

“You should’ve said, I could’ve worked behind the bar for you,” Faraday guarantees with a wink “We could’ve spent even more time together.”

Carmen doesn’t laugh, but she looks at him fondly. “The school is a few hours away, which means that I’m going to have some of the family come in and help out in the meantime. You might get to see Mama and Papa again, though I don’t know if they’ll be glad to see you. Maybe if things turn out right, I’ll get some help from my no-good siblings,” she deadpans.

The sarcasm is rife, because one of her sisters is a steadily working actress, the other is a mother and nurse, and her brother went off to college two years early, skipping grades the way Faraday skipped classes.

“You’re not closing down,” Faraday confirms, not even noticing that half his drink’s gone or that his fingers have gone tight around the glass. Carmen seems to, though, because she reaches out to pry his hands away from his drink in order to gently squeeze them. 

God _damn_ he’s going to miss her, especially staring at her beautiful face every day. Faraday might be leaning more towards men these days after a bad breakup, but Carmen’s always been the one he dreamt about through high school, that unattainable perfect girl. 

“We’ll make sure and take care of you, Joshua,” she promises. “Now,” she insists. “I’ve got Billy and Jack Horne coming later to do some knife tricks. Are you going to give a girl some magic tricks on her last night in town?”

“You can try and stop me,” he says, already digging out his pack of cards. Knocking back the rest of his drink, he’s got no concern about being drunk while he does this, seeing as it’s practically second nature.

Faraday won’t admit it, but he’s grateful for her request. If he’s too busy working the floor with magic tricks, he doesn’t have to sit back and think about how much he might be bound to lose when Carmen leaves. He’s not exactly deeply fond of _change_ and losing one of his best friends, a good bartender, and possibly his drinking spot?

Well, it’s a damn good thing he’s got an audience to trick into finding the lady, isn’t it?

* * *

One week later, Faraday comes back to the bar, not sure what to expect. 

_Vaqueros_ is emptier than usual, which probably isn’t a good thing, seeing as Carmen mentioned the money issues and now all that Faraday can think about is whether the bar is so badly off that it might close down if things don’t turn around. While it’s not like there aren’t other places to drink in town, this one’s the only bar that caters to Faraday’s personal likes. It’s not the pretentious hipster bar that Teddy swears by and if he wanted deep fried food, he’d go to the Tanked Brewers, but _Vaqueros_ is a bar, true and through. It serves drinks, has got a genuinely historic charm, and just the slightest layer of grime that makes you think that it’s a place worth drinking at. He loves the old-timey cowboy decorations that adorn the walls, leaning more Mexican than Texas, but still straddling a line just the same as the border. 

Instantly, he misses Carmen’s beautiful face at the bar, but that fondness fades fast when his annoyance kicks up at spending five minutes without being served or even seeing anyone behind the bar. “Hey! Anyone even working?”

Leaning back on his stool to bitch some more, he glances around to see that the other few regulars have drinks, so clearly whichever poor Vasquez family member is now manning the bar is _somewhere_ around. It’s apparently only Faraday who’s out of luck.

“Hold your horses, _cabrón_ ,” a man’s rough voice calls from the door to the basement.

Okay, maybe Faraday’s not so unlucky after all.

He can’t see the man’s face, obscured by the heavy keg on his shoulder, but there’s got to be at least six feet of lean and muscled man coming up from the basement lifting that beer like it’s nothing. Not Mr. Vasquez, then, seeing as he’s a handsome man, but not spry enough to be carrying kegs like that. Faraday’s racking his brain to try and remember any of Carmen’s family that might’ve rolled through town in previous years, wondering which hot cousin he’s not remembering. 

Instantly, Faraday’s off his stool like he’s been shot, his whole personality shifting from pain in the ass to someone a little more charming. “Hey, come on, let me help you with that,” he coaxes. 

“I can manage,” comes the heated reply, which is definitely a lot more aggressive than Faraday feels he deserves. 

Still, he’s also smarter than he’s been said to be, so he backs off with both hands in the air, settling back onto his stool as he watches the man switch out kegs, wiping his brow of sweat when he’s done. Usually, it’s the poor suckers that come into the bar that look miserable and in need of a drink, but he’s pretty sure the bartender takes the cake.

“Carmen guilted you into this, huh?”

The man snorts and moves to get a glass, gesturing to Faraday with it. “She only started the guilt trip. What’s your drink?”

Faraday shakes his head at the beer glass and points to something else. “Whiskey, double, on the rocks.” He’s trying to wrack his brain. Rafael? That’s the cousin of Carmen’s from Mexico that went into the rodeo. Maybe he got hauled back up here to work behind the counter. 

If it is him, then good on Carmen for figuring out how to get better tips. Maybe there’ll even be a wet t-shirt contest later.

The bartender sets Faraday’s drink down just a little too hard, which he knows he hasn’t been an asshole enough to earn, so he suspects the situation is far from optimal. “Who finished it, then?”

“Mama and Papa don’t like to hear no for an answer,” comes the sour reply.

_Shit_ , thinks Faraday.

He knows he’d never been close with the youngest Vasquez sibling during high school, but apparently, he’s gone nearly a whole conversation without acknowledging that he knows the man. How awkward is this bound to get? Well, maybe he won’t get remembered either, it’s not like they were the best of friends back…

“Carmen said I might see you again, Faraday.”

Nope, he’s fucked.

He’d like to put it on his own personal record that it’s not his fault he hadn’t recognized Alejandro Vasquez, because the last time he’d seen him, he did not look the wet dream that he currently is, what with a t-shirt sticking to his chest, poured into a pair of skinny jeans, and wearing motorcycle boots most men would dream about. His hair is mussed and his cheeks covered with three days’ stubble, flushed from the effort of carrying the beer up from the basement.

“How’s she doing?” Faraday asks, trying to slide right past the lack of recognition and Alejandro’s bitterness of being forced to work for the family, searching for a safer topic. “She liking school? What about taking over the campus, she done that yet?”

“It’s only been a week, so I think she’s well on her way,” Alejandro guarantees with a fond smile. “She promised me I’d only have to work the semester, then Francesca will get the kids with a nanny and I can get back to work.”

“Yeah? What’d you end up doing?”

“Little bit of numbers work,” Alejandro says proudly. “I took a sabbatical to help, but when this is over, I’ll go back. I’m trying to become the youngest junior partner and they weren’t very impressed when I told them I needed some time off for family affairs. Better than telling them I was coming to pour drinks for the locals who used to beat me up in high school.” His sour look isn’t meant for Faraday because he never laid a hand on him, but he knows all too well the shit that folks like McCann had put Alejandro through.

His sisters had fiercely gone to bat for him, but that had only made matters worse.

It looks like the family’s guilting finally got him back here.

When he sips the drink, he gives Alejandro a mildly suspicious look because it’s stronger than usual, but it’s his first night. There’s no point in giving the man more to worry about, seeing as it looks like he’s just settling in.

“Did Carmen give you the lowdown on the place?”

“She told me about all the regulars, _si_ ,” Alejandro confirms, gesturing to the few tables behind them. “Jack Horne likes to come in every week and drink quietly in the corner by himself, which he’s done since his wife passed. Goodnight and Billy are here, usually with you on a Saturday night. The preacher likes to come in for a non-alcoholic beverage in the evening and a game of cards, the teacher’s son works here sweeping the floors in the day and then the teacher comes in to try and pick up women.”

“All those regulars and not a word about me?” 

“Carmen had plenty to warn me about you,” Alejandro guarantees. “Especially since…”

But no, Faraday’s not getting to hear the rest of that, seeing as Alejandro goes quiet and returns to pouring beers for the waitress when she comes to the bar to fill orders. He’ll get to the bottom of it eventually. Digging out a twenty, he puts it on the table to pay, gesturing to the row of bottles behind Alejandro.

“Your sister tell you that I buy her a drink every night?”

“She did,” he agrees.

“So pick your poison,” Faraday insists, not willing to let a good tradition die. Besides, the thought of Alejandro knocking back a shot, Adam’s apple bobbing, the line of his throat exposed with stubble and the pull of lean muscles is enough to get him adjusting himself in his seat and he hopes to god that Alejandro likes tequila enough to want to take a shot and a lick of salt with it.

It turns out that Alejandro is not as fun as his sister because he pours himself a glass of soda water and then splashes a lime in it, like this is the daring addition it needs.

“Seriously?”

“I’m working, _guero_. Besides, trust me, I’m not the kind of drunk that makes a good bartender. My tongue gets loose,” he promises, sipping his drink as he digs out change for Faraday, sliding it across the bar.

Faraday wants to ask if his pants also get loose, but seeing as it’s the first time he’s seen him in years, that’s probably not appropriate. “Well, cheers to being back home,” he says, clinking his glass against Alejandro’s. “Is it better, this time?”

“We’ll see,” he says, staring at Faraday like he knows a secret that he isn’t telling. 

As far as Faraday’s concerned, his favorite bar is bound to stay open with Alejandro running it and he’s got a damn good reason to keep coming by. He might even increase his visiting habits.

After all, they’re having money issues, right? He’s being a good Samaritan, helping the business. As he tips his head to the side and watches Alejandro put some glasses away, shirt raising all the way up past a set of defined abs, he thinks that there’s totally no ulterior motives at all behind the change.

None at all, he insists to himself, as Alejandro grabs a toothpick and works it expertly with his mouth, guaranteeing himself a spot in Faraday’s dreams tonight.

* * *

“You hear about Alejandro Vasquez coming back to town?”

Faraday reloads his gun after asking Goodnight, staring down the lane at the target at the far end. What started as a bonding trip has turned into a regular occurrence for them, meeting on weekends to blow off steam, catch up on the week, and exchange gossip. 

Goodnight seems particularly hungry to talk about this one, given that he hangs up his rifle and slides off his earphones. “I _did_ ,” he agrees, shaking his head, a wondrous look on his face. “Couldn’t believe it, either. That boy worked his ass off to get out of town, for which I do not blame him in the slightest. He didn’t exactly have an easy time of it, now did he?”

Even though Faraday, Goodnight, and the others are two years older than Alejandro and had been in Carmen’s class, it had been hard to miss how the poor boy got picked on. He’d hit his growth spurt too late and when he did, he couldn’t catch up with his body, remaining a lanky beanpole. The glasses and his tendency to wander around with his nose in a book never did help, neither did the part where he’d skipped a grade and landed himself along peers that had already made social groups.

On the outside like that, Faraday could understand why he’d worked so hard over the summers to load up his classes so he could graduate early and head off to college, eager for a fresh start.

“Him coming back after all that shit, though,” Faraday says, shaking his head. “I think that bar’s in rougher shape than they’re letting on.”

“He’s an accountant now, Billy says,” Goodnight shares. “He’s been working out of some big outfit, making decent money. From what I can tell, Carmen begged, then their parents guilted.”

“Yeah, so he said,” Faraday says, cautious and careful about revealing too much of what Alejandro had already let spill. So, Faraday’s right. The trouble is, he’s seen this happen a lot in his background of working in the marketing department of various companies (big and small). It’s fine to bring someone in to comb over the lines and look at the money, but unless you’re bringing in seat-fillers or cash, you can only cut costs so far before you run out of places to snip and then you’re really in trouble.

“Shit,” he grumbles, cleaning his gun as he tries to think about the trouble the bar is in.

Unfortunately, his brain doesn’t want to cooperate and instead is reminding Faraday of how damn good Alejandro’s arms had looked when he’d been carrying that keg. He’d never bothered giving Alejandro a second look when they’d been growing up, both because he’d been younger, but also, Faraday hadn’t learned about his appreciation for the male form until much later.

What’s truly unfortunate is that Faraday can’t recall if Alejandro did any of that appreciating himself, because currently, Faraday hasn’t got a clue if he should even bother trying.

As they’re cleaning the guns after, he knows he’s been too quiet and that Goodnight’s going to see that something’s off. “Go on,” Goodnight finally prods. “It’s not like you not to chatter my ear off about your latest project or your latest partner or whatever rescue dog you’re working with this week. What’s up, Josh?”

There’s two things to give up. He knows that if he doesn’t give them up willingly, then Billy and Goodnight will just get him drunk until he says everything, so best to just get it over with.

“ _Vaqueros_ is my favorite place to drink,” he starts with the subject that’s much easier to talk about. “I really don’t want to sit elbow and elbow with Teddy when I go drinking, it’s bad enough that Emma makes us hang around with him every time we have a social gathering.” The trouble is that it’s not his bar and it’s not his problem. 

He doubts the Vasquez family would give him the time of day if he offered his help, so he’s just left worrying about a staple in his life that might go away. For him, it’s an inconvenience. For Carmen, her parents, and the rest of the family, it’s losing their income and their legacy.

That’s a pretty shitty thing.

What’s even shittier? 

Faraday feels like a gigantic heel because even knowing all that, it’s still the problem in the back of his mind. Here’s the one that’s really bugging him. “Fuck, Goody, he looked incredible,” Faraday exhales, shaking his head. “I’m serious, it’s like he discovered the gym or something after he left this place, but tall drink of water doesn’t even begin to cover it and he’s got his sister’s sass and fire, plus I already know he’s brilliant.”

“My oh my,” Goodnight says with a smug smirk. “Does Joshua Faraday have a crush on a Vasquez _again_? How predictable.” 

“Am not!”

“You spent your entire senior year drawing Carmen’s name in your notebooks,” Goodnight reminds him. “Now the brother is all grown up and you figured out you like men as well as women. Joshua Vasquez,” he says, like he’s painting a picture. “I think that sounds a mite better than Carmen Faraday.”

“It could be Alejandro Faraday,” he protests to try and cover the flush of embarrassment in his cheeks. “Look, I can appreciate someone, can’t I?”

“Of course you can,” Goodnight allows, like he’s being _truly_ magnanimous. 

“Not all of us can be happily married domesticated fucks,” Faraday grumbles, moving to check his gun back in at the desk. It’s not his fault that he’s never found the right person to settle down with and it’s equally not his fault that Mr. and Mrs. Vasquez produced such attractive children. 

Faraday knows it’ll be Alejandro’s fault that Faraday has a lot of dreams about the way his arms had flexed when carrying that keg, but that’s the kind of blame he thinks can be readily assigned.

“So?” Goodnight prods as they grab their jackets. “Are you going to pine over him uselessly and then unsuccessfully ask him out the way you did with his sister or are you going to actually try this time?”

“You know what, Goody? I think I’m going to keep going to my favorite bar, enjoy a drink, and maybe a little bit of the eye candy. If things change from there, you’ll be the first to know. Not because I tell you,” Faraday says knowingly, “but because you’re an abhorrent gossip who knows too much about this town.”

“Now who taught you that big word?” 

“Your husband takes pity on poor idiots like me,” Faraday jokes, digging his keys out of his jacket once he reaches his mustang. “He also taught me this one,” he says cheerfully, and gives Goodnight the finger as he gets in the car, middle finger still up as he reverses, hand sticking out the window and flipping Goodnight off, even as he leaves.

Lucky for him, Goodnight already knows what kind of an asshole his best friend is, so he laughs and shakes his head as Faraday drives away. He’s headed home, prepared to spend a restless night in bed thinking about Alejandro Vasquez’s body, and he’s okay with that.

* * *

Next Friday night, Faraday returns to a slightly larger crowd, but nowhere near the height of _Vaqueros_ when Carmen first took it over and men flocked in for the chance to flirt with her. He tells himself that his concerns are selfish ones, because he doesn’t want to drink at a second-choice bar. He doesn’t let himself think (not for a second) that maybe he’d feel bad if Alejandro came all the way back to a town he hates just to have this blow up in his face.

Nope, nothing to do with that at all, he just doesn’t want to drink whatever hipster beer bullshit they’re charging nine dollars for.

Tonight, Alejandro is at the bar, glasses on, tapping some papers with a pencil. Abandoning his usual seat so that he can sit next to him, Faraday leans forward and waves his fingers in front of his face. “I think this is becoming a bad habit of me not getting a drink when I walk in,” he grumbles. “Carmen always had something waiting for me.”

His glasses slipping down his nose, Alejandro peers up from behind the rims. “My sister thought she could save this place on charm and tips. I know better.” He still turns around, adjusting his flannel shirt, and pours Faraday _his_ drink without a single reminder of what he usually buys.

“It can’t be that bad, can it?”

Alejandro’s furrowing his brow, which should be worrying, but Faraday thinks it’s pretty goddamn adorable. He crooks his finger at Faraday to get him closer so that he can turn financial statements his way. He might be in marketing, but he can see a shitty P&L from a mile away and what he’s looking at…

Faraday whistles and glances up at Alejandro, understanding that fretful look on his face a lot more.

“When did it get so bad?”

“My parents,” Alejandro sighs. “When they put in the expansion and bought the extra square footage, it increased the rent and the utilities and we haven’t had the kind of guests we need to make up for it.”

“Shit,” Faraday exhales.

He knows that Alejandro hasn’t asked, but Faraday’s already started to work the problem in his head. He’s looking at the layout, the product offering, and he’s trying to fix it before he even realizes how badly he wants to do it and smooth out that line on Alejandro’s forehead with the brush of his thumb and a kiss, to make it all go away.

He might have scribbled Carmen’s name on some notebooks, but it had never gone this deep. Maybe all this time, he’d been ignoring the obvious right in front of his eyes.

Until Alejandro actually asks for help, though, it’s not Faraday’s place to intrude, no matter how badly he wants to barge his nose in. 

“What happens if you can’t get your feet under you?”

Alejandro shrugs as he studies the books, setting them and the calculator aside as he leans forward on the bar with his forearms, placing him snugly beside where Faraday is doing the same from the other side. “We have to close down and sell the place, probably,” he admits. “My parents would probably be fine with the money, but I don’t know how the family would feel to lose the bar. It’s been in our family since we were little.”

“It’s where you grew up,” Faraday fills in the blanks that Alejandro’s not saying.

He still remembers being so jealous in his teen years of the Vasquez family for owning a bar, even if he hadn’t paid much mind to all the work that went into it, seeing as they had to come in after school to sweep floors, wash dishes, and help get the business off the ground. His parents had nothing but good to say about the bar and the whole town had rallied behind them to encourage them to their success.

Faraday reaches out to absently tap Alejandro’s knuckles with his own, letting his fingers linger there for a moment. The warmth of the skin there is almost too much of a distraction, but Alejandro doesn’t pull away and that means neither does Faraday. 

He plans to win this game of chicken, or turn it into something else.

“Hey, listen,” Faraday murmurs. “What about the bank? Couldn’t they give you another loan or something?”

“Not with the way we’re paying off the first one,” Alejandro says, exhaling with the heaviness of a man who doesn’t want to talk about the issue anymore.

With that, Faraday can oblige. “Pour yourself your soda water,” he coaxes. “And then how about you let me tell you all the gossip that’s been going around Rose Creek since you left, seeing as I doubt Carmen bothered to fill you in on half the interesting stuff,” he says, eyes glimmering as he decides if he’s going to start with the scandalous news about Emma and Matthew taking Teddy to their bed half the time or the time Billy and Goodnight got caught half-naked and fucking in the fountain outside city hall.

What doesn’t slip Faraday’s notice is that after about an hour, Alejandro’s glass has switched from soda water to beer and the waitress is filling all the orders, which means he’s had Alejandro’s attention captive the whole time.

“…and what about your girlfriend?” Alejandro asks. “Maria? Carmen said you were dating someone by that name, though I thought she was _loco_.”

“Nah, I was,” Faraday admits. “We weren’t exactly compatible. She was in a rush to get married and settled down and I’m still figuring out what I want to do with my life. I got my degree in marketing, I love being an events specialist, but…”

“But?”

“I don’t know,” Faraday admits, shaking his head. “Always did like coming up against a problem that seemed too big to solve.” 

What he doesn’t say as he looks around at the dwindling patronage at eleven at night, that this bar seems like the biggest problem he’s come up against and he’s itching to do something about it. Of course, when his gaze lands back at Alejandro staring at him, he thinks maybe that’s not the only challenge he’s hoping to tackle.

“Besides, what about you?” Faraday prompts. “No Marias in your life?”

Alejandro gapes at him for a long moment. “I thought you knew.”

“Knew…?”

“Mr. Vasquez?” That’s the waitress, who looks like she’s done her shift and ready to go home. It’s early, so Alejandro is probably working the rest of the shift to save on labor, which means that Alejandro’s undivided attention is no longer a thing he gets to enjoy.

Alejandro gives him an apologetic look as he pulls himself away from the bar. “Sorry, _guero_ , but I need to do the counts and do my rounds. Maybe we can talk next time you come in?” He looks so stupid hopeful that it does painful wrenching things to Faraday’s heart and even if he didn’t have a crush on the man, he doubts anyone could look at that face and bear to say no.

“Next time,” Faraday agrees and picks up his third whiskey of the night to amble towards some of the other regulars in the bar. “Evening, gentleman! How about a round of cards?”

Despite their heavy grumblings, they soon agree. Every once in a while, Alejandro passes by with new drinks and Faraday takes his time looking his fill, wondering if he’s going to get a shot at this particular challenge of a man, hoping to hell that he does.

Until then, he thinks as he watches Alejandro excuse himself behind the bar, Faraday can at least appreciate the fact that Alejandro wears his jeans a size too tight and the glasses he needs most often as on the lowest shelf.

It’s one hell of a view from where he sits, so he’s not planning to pipe up about this one, either.

* * *

Despite Goodnight’s insistence that Faraday is a man who exists purely on bar food, whiskey, and vending machine fare, he does go grocery shopping about once a month to get his shelves stocked. He’s in the middle of one of those evening stock-ups wearing a hoodie and his sweatpants when he runs into Alejandro by complete chance.

No, really, he literally runs his cart into the other man’s, jolting from the collision in Aisle 2. He’s immediately embarrassed, but that’s swiftly followed by annoyance that he looks like shit, hasn’t shaved yet, and is wearing the sweatpants with a coffee stain on them.

Lucky for him, Alejandro doesn’t look like he’s in great shape either. His t-shirt has holes near the hem, his hair is askew, he’s wearing his glasses, and his jeans keep slipping because it looks like he forgot to wear a belt.

The fucker looks adorable, though, which is how Faraday knows how far gone he is.

“Well, fancy meeting you here,” Faraday jokes. “I guess you do exist outside of the bar.”

“The bed is upstairs, so you’re not too far off the mark,” Alejandro huffs. “I do need to eat.” 

Peering into his cart and finding a pretty admirable selection of fresh fruits and vegetables lying alongside proteins, he makes an impressed sound. “You do a lot of cooking?”

“Our _abuela_ taught me and my sisters how to cook,” Alejandro shares. “Some of us took to her lessons. Others listened, but don’t have much luck. Carmen? Well, she never bothered to listen, was always more interested in taking apart the machines in the kitchen.” He reaches out for a few limes, pressed up against Faraday to do it. “What about you?”

“Well, I have been known for my legendary mac and cheese fare,” Faraday can’t help but boast with a smirk on his face, and it’s a miracle he got words out at all for the way Alejandro presses against his side like that. 

“You can’t taunt me like that and then not deliver,” Alejandro says, hand to his heart. “Mama and Papa sent over some care packages when I first got back into town, but now I’m out and I’ve been living on cereal.”

Should he invite Alejandro over? Is that too much? 

Before Faraday can think twice about whether it’s pushing or not, he hears himself opening his mouth to say, “I mean, if you’re ever off shift and feel lonely, you could always come around mine and see the wonder of my mac and cheese?”

Alejandro grins at him in this soft and dazed way that looks like he’s been struck across the face and adoration stuck to it. 

_This is it_ , Faraday thinks, _this is your chance to get Alejandro over for a real date_.

Only, before Alejandro can answer, someone interrupts.

“Ale? Is that you?”

Swearing under his breath, Faraday does his best not to look like he’s just been inconvenienced, turning to find Liam O’Gallagher standing in the vegetable section near them. Pretty little Liam with his blue eyes, a year younger than Faraday and one year older than Alejandro. He hadn’t paid much mind to him at school other than their parents being friends because they had the Irish background as a connection.

“I didn’t know you were back in town,” Liam keeps going. “I mean, I haven’t seen you since…”

“Since we broke up,” Alejandro cuts in, sounding like he’s in a rush to reveal that piece of information. His eyes skirt to Faraday and if he’d been hoping to find disappointment or dismay, he’ll find a man who looks pretty damn relieved and a bit eager, in fact.

True, he’s not pleased with Liam interrupting the almost-date acceptance, but now that he knows Alejandro bats his way, he knows his chances just shot up through the roof.

Of course, that chance goes out the window if Liam gets in the way. He seems to have forgotten that he’s also shopping, drifting to stand between Faraday and Alejandro so he can marvel at him, a fond smile on his face.

“Look at you, all grown up,” Liam praises, only glancing back at Faraday when he coughs to remind Liam that he’s still there. There’s a look in Liam’s eye that he doesn’t understand, but Alejandro seems to, because he’s trying to tug Liam back and away. He doesn’t manage to before Liam gets one last catty remark in. “Huh, I guess somebody’s birthday candle wish did come true…”

“Excuse us,” Alejandro says and drags Liam away so that they can catch up and talk privately. 

Faraday ought to head back to the rest of his shopping, but it might look awkward for him to slink away in the middle of a conversation that he’d just been standing in. Besides, he’s not about to let Liam swan in like this and act after seeing how good Alejandro looks, so Faraday intends to mill around the produce awkwardly, trying to drift close enough to eavesdrop (a failure, seeing as every time he does, their tones go hushed).

Eventually, though, it seems to be wrapping up.

“You’ll call?” Liam asks, squeezing Alejandro firmly at the forearm.

Something awful rises and falls in Faraday’s gut as he thinks about how much he wants to be the one to give those casual touches. Still, Alejandro nods wordlessly and then Liam is on his way out, stopping every few seconds to turn and give Alejandro another last look.

Well, things could _not_ be clearer in one regard.

Once Liam takes a genuinely final look, Faraday takes the time to study Alejandro for a long moment, watching the way Alejandro’s cheeks flush as he pushes his cart down the produce aisle and towards the checkout counter. “Is this what you were saying the other night?” Faraday prompts. “What you were trying to tell me, that you like men?”

“I thought you remembered,” Alejandro says, his jaw clenched tightly. “I used to get tormented at school for it, but I guess I never registered,” he notes bitterly, his back to Faraday as he starts to put his things up on the conveyer belt. “Why would you notice the nerdy kid when you were busy staring at my sister?” 

It doesn’t take him long to pile all his things onto it, slamming the divider down and making Faraday feel off-footed, because he thought that things had been going so well, so _what the hell_?

By the time he finds his footing, the cashier is asking how Alejandro wants to pay and Faraday remembers the mac and cheese. “Hey, listen, that offer from before, it still stands if you ever want to come around to mine and have dinner.” It’s rushed, clumsy, and nothing like the offer Faraday had intended to give.

Grabbing his bags, Alejandro looks _hurt_ and Faraday is left clueless. Something happened with Liam that he doesn’t know about, but it clearly fucked everything up to the point that whatever moment they’d been having is long gone.

“Thanks, _guero_ ,” Alejandro says and Faraday isn’t sure whether it’s a good thing that he sounds tired instead of angry, “but I work every night, so I just don’t know how we would ever make it work.”

With that, he leaves Faraday to pay for his own groceries, Alejandro’s name on his tongue and regret pulsing through him.

“Fuck,” he says out loud.

“You definitely blew that,” adds the cashier, who definitely earns the finger he gets, as far as Faraday’s concerned.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night, he can’t let the incident at the grocery store go. He’s been trying to put it out of his mind, but he keeps coming back around to the hurt look on Alejandro’s face as he’d left, not to mention the snide look on Liam’s face, like Faraday had been intruding by doing nothing more than existing. Despite the fact that it’s almost midnight, Faraday calls Goodnight because if he doesn’t talk this out, he’s never getting some rest.

“I hate you,” comes Billy’s voice when someone picks up on the other end of the line, which should be scarier, but it’s such a common occurrence by now that it really can’t be anything other than mildly annoying.

“I remember,” Faraday promises. “Put Goody on.”

There’s a shuffle of bedsheets and Faraday steps on that jealous frisson that he tries not to let bother him. Just because his romantic life is currently being affected by a fuck-up doesn’t mean that other people shouldn’t get to enjoy theirs. It takes another moment, but then Faraday hears Goodnight’s weary sigh. Despite them being the same goddamn age, Goodnight acts like a grandfather some days.

Faraday even bets that the man is wearing those wire-rimmed glasses of his and would happily put on a sleeping cap, if he had the chance.

“To what fuck-up do I owe this lovely phone call to?” Goodnight asks wearily.

“I fucked things up with Alejandro and I don’t even know how,” Faraday gets right into the meat of it. There’s no point dancing around it. Goodnight already knows how much of a crush Faraday has on the man and he needs actual adult advice. “I bumped into him at the grocery store and things were going fine. Great, even. I was inviting him around to my place when Liam O’Gallagher stumbled in and he and Alejandro caught up about their old romantic days.”

“Little Liam,” Goodnight hums, clearly about to stumble down a road of nostalgia.

“No, this isn’t about Liam! This is about how when he was done talking, it was like Liam had said something about me, but I know that little fucker doesn’t have any dirt on me and if he does, he should be scared because I know about the worms he used to eat all the way through third grade.”

He can hear the silence creaking on the line, which is what Goodnight does to him when he starts getting out of control. It annoys the fuck out of him and Goodnight knows it.

“Let’s ease away from the Faraday revisionist history. Tell me the last thing you said before he got all annoyed.”

Faraday squeezes one eye shut as he collapses on his bed and tries to think about it. 

Right, high school.

“I asked if the thing with Liam, his being gay, if that was what he was trying to tell me the other night,” he says, but that’s the kind of thing he doesn’t think he should be getting yelled at for.

“…you didn’t know he was gay?”

“Goodnight Robicheaux, I didn’t swan around our high school taking a goddamn census!”

There’s a whistling coming from the other end of the line that Faraday is familiar with. It’s the sound that Goodnight makes when someone else has fucked up romantically and he’s about to lord it over them like he's so much better, just because he fell in love and Billy was stupid enough to agree to his proposal. 

“I mean, on the one hand, he cares that you care,” Goodnight begins, “so that’s a point in your favor. Unfortunately, seeing as you can’t time travel, the part where you didn’t even notice he existed in high school is currently working against you and I suspect Liam wasted no time in opening up that little wound,” he says. “You ignored him back then. You ignored him so much that you never even saw what he got tormented for and then you just bring it up casually?”

Faraday’s beginning to feel his stomach twist with guilt, because he’s starting to see Goodnight’s point.

“Honestly, Josh, I’m surprised he didn’t punch you, but maybe he’s more civilized than that.” 

Faraday thinks that even with his reputation, a fight in the supermarket would’ve been more than the people in town expect (and besides, he stopped brawling when he was about twenty-one and his brain shifted into having more sense than stupid). Goodnight’s probably right, because Alejandro had been in a good mood up until that.

Faraday lets his head flop back onto a pillow, because it’s great that he knows why Alejandro’s mad at him, but he doesn’t know what to do about it. 

“I can’t go back in time,” he complains. “Besides, I thought everyone in town knew how much of an idiot I was back then.”

“There’s your trouble,” Goodnight insists. “He hasn’t been in town.”

Faraday rubs at his eyes, trying to think of something else. He can’t go back and undo the fact that he never paid attention to him, so he needs to figure out something that matters to Alejandro in the here and the now. It probably won’t undo any of the bad, but maybe he can start making up for it.

“Get some sleep,” Goodnight advises. “Maybe in the morning, he won’t even remember how much of an asshole you were.”

Faraday doesn’t think that’s likely, but seeing as he hasn’t got any bright ideas right now about what he can do, sleep seems like the best option. He’ll figure something out in the morning. He’s brilliant, right? 

It should be a breeze. After all, who’s smarter than Joshua Faraday?

* * *

So, the good news is that he’s still smart. Is he smart enough to have figured everything out right off the bat? No, but who is? Well, maybe Billy, but he’s the kind of preternatural weirdo that never fucks up. Still, now that Faraday’s got his idea, he thinks he’s in the clear. 

It doesn’t mean he’s all the way assured, which is why he’s currently on the phone with Goodnight to push himself right over the line. 

“I’m telling you, Goodnight, it’s a good idea,” Faraday says, in the process of convincing Goodnight. What that means is that he’s actually in the process of convincing himself, seeing as he doesn’t do anything until it has the Goodnight Robicheaux seal of approval, seeing as that tends to filter out his stupider plans. “He’s numbers, I’m marketing. If the bar needs help, that’s me!”

There’s silence on the other end, along with rustling of sheets. He can hear Billy’s voice in the background, which would mean sex for any other couple, but Goodnight and Billy do that later in the evening. This is just their foreplay of crossword puzzles and drinking.

“What? What’d Billy say?”

“Billy said,” comes Billy Rocks’ voice itself, “are you sure this is about the bar and not about his pants?”

“What if it’s both?” Faraday suggests after a pause. “I wasn’t done telling you my brilliant plan. So! After he agrees to hire me on as a consultant to get their sales back up, I ask him out on a date.”

He’s pacing back and forth outside of _Vaqueros_ , having to step out of the way of patrons on their way inside, but it’s telling that he’s already there. His mind is made up and he doesn’t intend to leave without making one of the two offers. 

“Josh,” Goodnight sighs. “Are you asking for permission or forgiveness?”

“Well, seeing as I’m already here…?”

“In that case, good luck to you. If he says no, we’ll open some booze, see if we can’t mend that heart of yours.” 

“Thanks, Goodnight,” Faraday says, hanging up and tucking his cell phone back into his pocket. He appraises the bar (definitely going to need to update the signage, not to mention get some wayfinding and more word of mouth going) and wishes he’d brought his flask for a shot of liquid courage before he goes inside to do this. 

Lucky for him, there’s a whole shelf of that where he’s going. 

He knows that things are still awkward from the encounter at the grocery store and they haven’t spoken since, but Faraday has a good feeling that if he can get through items one and two on his checklist, then there won’t be a hurt look on Alejandro’s face for much longer.

When he walks inside, Alejandro glances up when the door opens and instantly looks down. He doesn’t look mad, so score one for Faraday, but he definitely looks like he wants to avoid confrontation, so he has to play this carefully.

He makes a beeline for the bar, setting a portfolio on the table. It’s brimming full, because Faraday had spent several sleepless nights trying to think of how he could fix things. He didn’t just mean things with Alejandro, but with _Vaqueros_ too.

“Before you say anything, I’m sorry about the grocery store,” Faraday knows he has to grovel before he gets to go on. “I was a shitty guy in high school with tunnel vision. I should’ve noticed what the cause for all the trouble you had was, especially because I was friends with Carmen, but I didn’t.” He didn’t, and that’s on him. “So, I’m sorry.” 

He's even sorrier because he probably could’ve helped out. It’s not like he was ever going to be the class president, but Faraday had enough respect due to him that he might have been able to make a difference.

That was then, this is now. He can’t solve Alejandro’s bullying issues in the past, but he can solve the financial issues that the bar is going through. At least, he hopes he can. 

Sliding into a seat, he leans forward and reaches out to coax Alejandro’s hand into his own, giving him a sheepish smile. “You’re allowed to be mad at me, but I think after what I have to offer you, you might find it in your heart to forgive me,” he says, and maybe he’s just projecting that wishful thinking forward, but he thinks that it might not be so bad. 

Alejandro doesn’t recoil away, but he twists Faraday’s hand in his own to study it, like he’s considering him. 

“I’m interested enough to hear what you have to say,” Alejandro admits. “What’s this brilliant offer of yours?”

“I’m going to save this bar.”

There’s no instant applause, Alejandro doesn’t vault over the bar to kiss him, and no one else in the bar cheers, so maybe he didn’t say that loud enough. 

“I said…”

“I know what you said, _guero_ ,” Alejandro cuts him off, holding up a hand in disbelief. “I want to know why you think that and _why_ would you do that?”

_Because I’m painfully infatuated with you and want to do anything I can to make you happy_ , that would be the honest truth, but probably a little awkward to hear. So, he goes with another truth. “This is my favorite place to be,” Faraday says, which is also a painful kind of honesty that he hadn’t intended on sharing. “Besides, hear me out first and then you can decide how altruistic I’m being.”

Alejandro glances to where Astrid, the waitress, is currently bussing tables.

“Can you cover the bar?” he asks her, and slides down to the end of the bar when she acquiesces with a nod, giving them some privacy.

Faraday opens his notebook and grabs the first item in his arsenal, smacking it down on the table and making the sound reverberate like a gunshot. Alejandro picks it up and studies it with a fearful disbelief.

“This is a check for twenty percent of the bar’s value.”

Faraday knows it is, he’d had a hell of a time getting the local bank manager to give him a figure so he could get the check right. Still, enough sweet-talking and bribing the bank manager with a box of his favorite cigars had done the trick and managed to get him to open up. It’s going to cost Faraday most of his savings, but he’s still got enough left from a few of his early jobs, when he'd still been living at home.

Besides, he thinks that this offer means nothing if he doesn’t put all his money behind it.

Alejandro looks like he’s scared to touch the thing. He keeps brushing his fingers near it, but won’t actually touch it. Truthfully, he looks like a man who isn’t sure that he’s awake.

“It’s real,” Faraday promises, because he wouldn’t come in here and play a practical joke. Hell, his heart feels like it’s stuck in his chest and this whole venture could go south for him, but he has to try. It’s pretty much the only way he thinks he has a real shot of courting Alejandro, but also of making sure that he doesn’t lose out on the bar in the process.

Since Alejandro seems occupied with staring at the check, Faraday goes for the next item he had prepared, asking Emma to help him out with drafting up the contract.

“I’m offering to buy twenty percent of the bar, if your family will let me. In exchange, you get my marketing and PR experience for free,” he shares, “And the plan is that within two years, we turn this place around and you guys are profitable again. When you are, we start a five-year paydown plan and the family buys me out,” he says. “Plus, five percent off the top, if that happens,” he admits, because again, he might be doing a good thing, but he’s no saint.

“This all seems too good to be true,” Alejandro says, staring at the contract and the check in turns, like he’s not sure where he should be putting his attention. “Does Carmen know that you’re doing this?”

Faraday waits until he’s got Alejandro’s attention, eyes locked. What he’s about to say is critical and he needs Alejandro to understand how important it is.

“I’m not doing this for Carmen,” he says quietly. Before Alejandro can get any other ideas, he adds, “Or for your parents or your other siblings.”

“Faraday…”

“Josh,” he cuts him off. He can feel the blood pounding in his head, feeling like he’s skydiving and the ground is hurtling towards him with frightening speed. “Call me Josh.”

“It’s been a month,” Alejandro says. He hasn’t rejected the check, but he also isn’t signing the contract. “You barely even knew I existed before and now I come back and you want to be my business partner?” He gives Faraday an uncertain look. “Why, because I got hot?”

Faraday lets out a strangled laugh. “I mean, sure, I’ve got eyes. You’re a hell of an attractive man, but you’re clever and you’re stubborn and you’re determined. I might not have known you got bullied for being gay, but I admired the hell out of your work ethic for getting yourself out of this town. When I went to school, you used to be an inspiration for me. I thought if you could work your ass off and get out, so could I.”

As for the rest of the _why_?

“You’re smart and kind and you don’t take my shit,” Faraday admits. “We’ve sat here talking for hours, you and me, and it feels like no time at all’s passed. I want more of that and if the bar goes under, I don’t get a chance,” he confesses. 

Keep it about the business, he reminds himself. There’ll be time for the rest later.

“Look, this is what I do,” Faraday insists. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no risk in this for you. You take my money and you let me give advice. If it doesn’t work, I’m the one who sunk money into this venture,” he points out.

From the slightly queasy look on Alejandro’s face, that’s not exactly a selling feature of this plan.

“Can I think about it?” he asks. “I’ve been back for a few weeks, I’m not sure that I should be making these decisions for my family, even if I definitely see the value.” He’s started to touch the corners of the check, rubbing his thumb over it like he’s trying to be careful and tender about it, as if it’ll burst into flames if he’s not careful.

Faraday nods, even though he plans to drop by more than once to help out in convincing Alejandro to make the choice.

“Talk to your family,” he says, because he has the feeling that unless Alejandro’s parents and Carmen sign off on this, then nothing is going to happen. Lucky for Faraday, at least one of those people absolutely adores him.

He’s mostly sure that the Vasquez parents tolerate him, but that’s not something he’d like to put to the test, if he’s honest. 

Finally, Alejandro picks up the check from the counter and tucks it into the folder with Faraday’s other papers and the proposal. He looks dazed in a lovely, surprised way, clutching the notepad to his chest. 

“Go on. Head upstairs and think about it,” Faraday coaxes. “I’m sure the waitress can watch the bar and I’ll shout real loudly if anyone needs your help urgently.”

What he doesn’t say is that Faraday might be the one in need of that help because he’s only managed to get through his first proposal, but luckily, Alejandro heads upstairs after a quick word with the waitress, which gives Faraday the opportunity to drink a double, wait a while to see if his courage is built up enough, and then another double when he finds it isn’t.

Hours later, when he’s finally feeling ready to face Alejandro again, he drags himself up from his stool and heads upstairs to his apartment, closing the door to the bar behind him. Now that he’s gotten one proposal out of the way, there’s only one more hurdle to clear. 

This is the one that really counts, as far as he’s concerned. If today is going to end well, what he really needs is a ‘yes’ to what comes next. Hell, maybe if Faraday can convince Alejandro on this, then he’ll say yes to the other thing too.

What that means is that he’s got to manage to _ask_ , though, and unless he knocks on the door right in front of him, none of that is going to happen.

“C’mon,” Faraday coaxes himself, standing at Alejandro’s apartment door, closing his eyes and thinking about all the times he saw Alejandro stare a little too long, all the absent touches, not to mention the nicknames that keep slipping past his lips. “You can do this, this is the easy part. Making him even consider letting you share in the business was much worse.”

Before he can talk himself out of it, Faraday reaches up and knocks on his door.

“Hold on!” 

Faraday is grateful that Alejandro hasn’t gone to sleep, because the last thing he needs is to have woken him up. If he wants the other man in a good mood, he needs to be alert. In the course of plenty of their conversations, he’s quickly picked up that a happy person, he is not, at least not when he’s just been woken up. 

“Astrid, if this is about…” He gets the door open enough for him to see that it’s Faraday and not the waitress after all. His eyes widen as he takes in Faraday’s position on his doorstep, looking genuinely gobsmacked. “You’re not supposed to be up here,” he says, sounding struck.

“Since when have I ever listened to the rules?” Faraday can feel his heart pounding in his chest. “Listen, remember what I said downstairs about an offer?” 

Alejandro nods, but doesn’t say anything. Apparently, Faraday’s mere presence here is enough to take all the words out of his mouth. He’s a little amazed that he has that kind of power, but maybe he’s also more than a little pleased with it.

“I got another one,” he says, leaning a hand against the doorframe, like he’s trying to prevent Alejandro from running away, when in reality, it’s inside the apartment that Faraday wants to go. “I’m not here to try and convince you to sign the contract, I know you said you needed time, but there’s something else I need to talk to you about.”

Alejandro is staring at him, wide-eyed and wary. “Joshua?”

“All that shit I said downstairs, I meant it,” he says. “Only, I didn’t tell you everything. Those hours I want to spend talking with you, I don’t want to only do them when you and I are sitting downstairs at the bar. I want to take you out to fancy restaurants and see what you look like in a suit. I want to stay up until all hours getting drunk and stupid with you and watch you fumble to get your glasses on in the morning. I want to go to the gym and see what routine you do to get your arms _like that_.” He’s rambling, but he also notices that he’s started to advance into the apartment because Alejandro has been taking small steps back, giving Faraday the chance to follow him inside.

Given an inch, he plans to take as many miles as he can get.

He takes a deep breath and when he’s inside, closes the door behind him, because while they’re in private, this still isn’t anything he wants anyone else to hear. 

“I don’t have a contract or a check to give you for this,” he says, wandering slowly forward until Alejandro’s back hits the wall and Faraday can lean in, though he tries to make sure he’s not being too aggressive.

The last thing he needs is to get punched tonight.

“Look,” Faraday says, “I like the hell out of you. So, here’s my other offer.”

Alejandro’s staring at his lips, which is good, because that means they’re already on the same page.

Faraday decides that he’s going for it. “Kiss me.”

That’s the perfect thing to say, because Alejandro wastes no time wrapping an arm around Faraday’s neck to pull him in for a kiss that leaves Faraday breathless and dizzy with it, grabbing Alejandro’s ass to make sure he can steady himself.

When Faraday eases back to breathe, he can tell that there’s no doubt about this proposal, which means he’s probably in good shape when it comes to the other offer.

“I have a counter-offer,” Alejandro says, raising his brow like he’s poising himself to challenge Faraday.

“Yeah? What’s that?”

Alejandro is already tugging Faraday further into the apartment, starting to unbutton his shirt as he pulls him towards what is _definitely_ the bedroom.

“Stay the night,” he says, standing on the threshold.

Faraday is sold, has never been more sold in his life, and that only increases when Alejandro takes off his shirt. 

Sign him up for this wild ride and please never let him off, he thinks, as Alejandro yanks him down into bed, deciding that Carmen leaving for school is the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

* * *

When morning dawns, the first thing Faraday asks isn’t about how good last night was or whether Alejandro liked it. No, instead, he goes for the simple and classic:

“So, did your sister sleep in this bed?”

Faraday hasn’t even opened his eyes, but he feels the swift _thud_ of Alejandro smacking his shoulder after Faraday asks the question, which only makes him laugh. Faraday opens his eyes to get an eyeful of what Alejandro looks like in the morning. As he’d suspected, the answer is _incredible_. Faraday never would’ve guessed the kid two years younger than him would’ve turned out this hot and sexy and smart, but he’s not complaining about where he ended up.

“Why are you talking about my sister when you just spent the night fucking me?” Alejandro laments, reaching for a pair of shorts.

At least, he’d _tried_ to, but Faraday got to the boxers first, holding them out of reach. He’s already got some real solid plans about making this a clothing optional apartment that he intends to talk Alejandro into. Besides, better to talk about nudity than about the ridiculous crush he had on Carmen for so long. Then again, maybe a jealous Alejandro is a handsome Alejandro and it’s something he’s eager to find out about. 

“I mean, I did have a crush on her.”

“Which boy didn’t,” Alejandro huffs, so yeah, he’s adorable when he’s jealous too. “I have three beautiful sisters and I was the ugly duckling who sat at home alone while they all went out with their handsome princes and I just longed for one that wasn’t going to out me and make my life a living hell. Instead, I thought, better to get out of here and start new.”

“Well, speaking from experience, you definitely grew into a beautiful swan,” Faraday guarantees, leaning over to tug at Alejandro’s waist to tug him back into bed, clambering to get on top of him to steal a few more kisses. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Alejandro laughs against the kisses, but doesn’t make much move to get up. “Remember my failing business?”

“You mean our failing business?” Faraday corrects him, feeling triumphant about something that he probably shouldn’t. “Look, I know we spent last night coming together more in regards to my second proposal, but I wasn’t joking about the first. I’ve got ideas, babe,” he guarantees excitedly, straddling Alejandro and pinning his wrists above his head. “The first one is already on its way.”

“Oh god, what are you planning to do to my bar?”

“I brought in a bull,” Faraday boasts. “One of my uncles had it from the rodeo tour he used to be on, gave it to me in exchange for an old motorcycle of mine he’s been eyeing. I’m thinking Thursday is Ride the Bull night for a fee. If you can stay on for a minute, you get a free beer. It’ll pack the place, make it a little more fun.”

Alejandro makes a whining noise that Faraday kisses away. “It’s so cliché,” he protests.

“You’re a goddamn Western bar,” Faraday retorts. “Don’t play that shit with me. It’ll make you money, Alejandro, and that’s just the start. I’m already thinking about a line of Sassafras drinks that you can serve and proper tequila nights, since I know you’re all finnicky about the real stuff and…”

He has a much longer list of ideas, but apparently none of them are going to see the light of morning, seeing as Alejandro is too busy pinning him to the bed and kissing him in a way that Faraday hasn’t been kissed in a very long time. When Alejandro finally sees fit to let him breathe, he’s dazed and staring up like he’s seeing stars, but instead it’s just a handsome man in a pair of glasses, looking dreamily down at him.

“What?” Faraday asks, rubbing at his cheek. “What, do I got something on my face?”

“No,” Alejandro replies, biting his lip. “I’m just remembering why I spent all of my high school years here with the _biggest_ crush on you.”

Has that been right in front of his face this whole time? Faraday laughs, leaning in to kiss Alejandro like he deserves it for solving a puzzle that he really didn’t do anything to help. 

Well, then, it looks like things are going to work out very nicely for them.

“I got one hell of a crush on you now,” Faraday informs him, “so I think maybe we’re even.”

Pinning him a little harder, Alejandro starts to wind his way down his body. 

“We’ll see about that.”

That’s all he says before he goes about making things very _uneven_ , to the point that Faraday owes Alejandro three times over, but hell, he’s never been worried about being able to tie it up, so he’s up for everything the challenge in front of him brings. 

By the end of breakfast, Alejandro has signed the other contract and is currently eating bacon at the kitchen counter while wearing nothing but Faraday’s boxers.

If this is how they intend to run their business, well, Faraday is fucking excited to get started.

* * *

_a while later_

“What are you doing?” Carmen sighs as she wanders up to the bar to lay down her empty tray. “You know your indentured servitude is up, you don’t have to be standing behind the bar serving drinks.”

Faraday barely pays any attention to her as he polishes a water glass with so much elbow grease that it’s bound to break if he goes much harder. His gaze is fixated on where the party is happening in the corner of the bar, but he’s not going to join because he made Alejo a promise to give him tonight to be with their friends. 

He sees snapping fingers in his face, which brings him back to reality.

“What?” he snaps, having lost his good mood a long time back.

Carmen is pressing her lips together, clearly amused and wanting to make a joke at his expense, but also worried that he might actually start smashing glasses if she starts to push too hard. “You didn’t have to work tonight. In fact, most people would take the night off before their own big party.”

“You want me,” Faraday begins, his tone slow and disbelieving, “to sit at home while Alejo sits here having a bachelor party with all our friends, wondering what hot man is sitting in his lap right at that very moment?”

The answer is a firefighter, incidentally, that’s what the answer is.

“Torturing yourself by watching my brother get lap dances doesn’t seem like a better idea. I’m just saying…” Carmen whistles like she’s marvelling at how much of an idiot Faraday is, but she should _know that_ by now. Reaching over, she makes him lower the water glass. “Josh, there’s an easy solution to this.”

“Get so drunk I can’t see straight?” Knowing his luck, he’ll just start seeing double of everything instead, which kind of defeats the purpose. He glowers when Carmen makes a face at him. She’s practically his sister-in-law, so he feels like he’s allowed to give her the finger, especially when he hears Billy Rocks offering to buy Alejandro a new lap dance.

Maybe Faraday is an idiot most of the time, but right now, he thinks he’s a genius.

He knows the easy solution Carmen has in mind is probably ‘go home’, but Faraday’s figured out a different, better one.

“Hey!” he shouts across the bar. “How about you let someone his own size pick on him?”

The whole group looks his way and it looks like of all of them, only Goodnight knows what’s coming next. Faraday’s party is meant to be tomorrow, which is why he’s meant to be resting up, but seeing as his fiancé is currently being wooed by hot stripper policemen, Faraday thinks he has a right to interrupt. 

He shoves his apron at Carmen and vaults over the bar to stride towards the group in the corner near the mechanical bull, giving Mr. Sexy Firefighter a click of his tongue. “Scram,” he drawls.

Alejandro leans back in his chair with a smug smile on his face, spreading his legs wide as if in invitation. He’s biting his lip as he stares up at Faraday and he fucking knows exactly what he’s about to get, which should be annoying if Faraday weren’t such a sucker.

“Five years,” is all Faraday grumbles as he straddles Alejandro, shoving at him so he can wrap his arms around his neck, “I’ve been with you for five _very_ long years,” he huffs, “and you’re still a smug son of a bitch when it comes to flirting with me.”

“Our friends are near us, _guero_ ,” Alejandro murmurs. “What happened to wanting separate parties? Does this mean I get to come to yours tomorrow?”

“I didn’t get strippers,” Faraday hisses, rocking his hips down now that Billy’s put on some real music for him to work to (a heavy bass beat thumping in his ears). He’s pretty sure lap dances shouldn’t be so angry, but he’s pissed off because he’s been watching Alejandro be warm and engaging and polite with all the dancers because that’s just who he is. Faraday knows, deep down, that it’s not flirting.

Except, it really just looks like flirting as far as Faraday is concerned and jealousy might not be a good color on him, but one he does wear frequently.

He rocks forward again, demanding and needy, but when he sees the way Alejandro’s eyes widen in that way he knows so well, he can’t help the way he presses his lips together with amusement.

“Almost, huh?”

“You’re in my lap, you look fucking incredible, and you know I like seeing you jealous,” Alejandro hisses at him. “What did you expect?”

“Want to know the great thing about owning a bar?” Faraday murmurs against Alejandro’s earlobe, kissing down the line of his neck before he eases back, draping an arm around Alejandro’s neck to hold on as he straightens his posture to get as tall as he can. “Everybody out!” he shouts. “Especially anyone with Vasquez as a surname, because I doubt you’re going to want to see what happens next!”

“You remember that I’m one of the owners?” Alejandro says mildly, even as all their friends start to leave and give them a chance at having their privacy. 

Faraday starts to undo the buttons of Alejandro’s jeans. “You want me to call them back in?”

Grabbing at Faraday’s hips and hauling him in, that unofficial ‘no’ is practically as sweet as hearing Alejandro say yes to his proposal, to seeing a financial statement with profit on it, and knowing that Faraday currently holds the record for longest ride on the bull – all at once. 

Within a few weeks, he’s going to be this man’s husband and hell, ain’t he lucky that of all the bars in the world, Alejandro Vasquez happened to come home and run this one. 

“Just remember,” comes Carmen’s voice, because apparently, someone needed to get her purse. “You owe me for this!”

Never has he loved Alejandro more than watching him flip off his sister for intruding on what’s supposed to be intimate sexy times between them, but then, he’s had years to pay the right kind of attention to the man and he likes everything he sees. 

Good thing for him, he’s got a whole lifetime to figure out all the rest.


End file.
